Riverdale: Merry Christmas Veronica Lodge
by Forgotten Conscience
Summary: Part of WattRiverdale's #SantasSecret contest, Veronica and her friends run into a very special hitchhiker on the road to a skiing trip. It may be connected to a previous Riverdale piece I wrote. Here's the timeline of how you should read the other stories 1. Pandora's Box 2. Double Take 3. Merry Christmas Veronica Lodge 4. Signs 5. Cocktails 6. The Heart of the Matter
1. Merry Christmas Veronica Lodge

**Strange Hitchhiker**

 _I needed to do this._

Taking a sip of the wine in my hand, I can't help but look over my friends in the car with me.

 _We needed to do this. Things have been so crazy lately and they've really taken their toll. The craziness of the Black Hood and trying to catch him. Archie almost being buried alive and Betty having to do it. Cheryl's problem with Nick and the fact that I brought it into her life._

I catch Archie looking at me but he quickly looks away.

 _Not to mention all the insanity of the up and down relationship between Archie-kins and me. I've really made a mess of things with him and it's mostly my fault. I thought I was doing the right thing by breaking it off with him. But after having a few days to think about it, now I'm not so sure. I only know for sure that we definitely needed it._

I look towards Kevin as he laughs along with Jughead.

 _After what happened at the Halloween rave?_

My eyes can't help but find their way to Betty.

 _I'm not sure I had much of a choice in the matter. I had to figure out what it meant, or if it meant anything at all._

She looks my way and I quickly try to avoid eye contact.

 _I've been doing that a lot lately, avoiding time with Betty. Doing everything I can to try and not look her in the eyes. I have no idea what I'd see if I did and I'm not sure I know what I want to see in them. It was such a crazy night that I'm not even sure I remember what actually happened._

 _I guess it's my own fault for going with it though. Taking drugs tends to do that to you. It used to happen to me all the time back in my wilder days, which is part of the reason that I stopped. But I figured that it couldn't be that bad if it was in Riverdale. Not nearly as bad as in the city._

 _Boy was I wrong about that. I've never had something like that happen to me. The way the world was kinda bending and twisting and blinking in and out like that? It was crazy. And then what happened next? Wow..._

 _But I've been through more than enough of these trips to know that you can't always trust what you see when you're on them. You have to wait until they wear off and hope that no one remembered anything like that. None of us have really talked about what happened though so I guess I must have been hallucinating it. I may never know for sure what was real and was imaginary. And maybe that's for the best._

I look back at Betty when I'm sure she's not looking back.

 _I'm not sure I want to know what really happened. It was too weird._

I glance over at Archie for a while.

 _And it would bring up way too many questions that I don't know that I want answered. I think I'll focus on what I know for sure and what I'm sure is actually real. Archie and I are the real thing, or at least I'm pretty sure we are. We're at least more real then anything that popped into your head during an ecstasy trip._

 _At least... I think it is._

"You're right V."

 _Wait, what?_

"Sorry?"

I look to Betty at her words.

"You were right about this being a great idea."

It takes me a second to respond.

"Oh, thanks B."

"You're both right. A ski trip is exactly what we needed right now."

 _Kevin's not reading my mind is he?_

"That's why I suggested it. What's the point of having a rich friend with a cozy little chalet in the hills if she doesn't offer it up to her best buds every once in a while?"

"You're sure that your parents are okay with us using it?"

I smile at Betty for always being the cautious one.

"Of course Betty. They gave me the keys and everything. They told us to have a good time."

"Pretty generous of them to just hand over the keys. They weren't worried about us trashing the place?"

I turn to Jughead at his ever present cynicism.

"That's what we have cleaners for. Although they did say that anything we break we have to pay for. So don't get too nuts."

"When are we even going to have time to trash the place anyway? I plan to spend every second I have on the slopes."

I smile at Kevin.

"Which is why I called my favorite hottie of a ski instructor to help us out. In case we need him to... give you a few pointers."

Kevin smiles back.

"You're a gracious host Veronica."

I fake an eye roll and sigh.

"I do my best."

Just then, the car starts to slow down.

 _What's going on?_

I reach for the window button separating us from the driver and roll it down.

"Jenkins? What's going on?"

"I'm sorry Miss Veronica but there seems to be something in our way."

 _What could be in the way out here? There's nothing for miles._

"What is it Jenkins?"

"It's... it's a... a reindeer."

Archie takes the words right out of my mouth.

"A reindeer? What's a reindeer doing in the middle of the road?"

Jughead can't help but get a jab in.

"It's the middle of nowhere, that's usually where you find wild animals."

"I'm not sure it's a wild one. There's more than one and... well..."

"Well what Jenkins?"

"A sleigh."

 _A sleigh? What the..._

As the car comes to a stop I press the button for the skylight and pop my head out to see for myself and...

"Guys, he's right. There's... there's a sleigh and... and..."

 _I almost can't even say it._

"And what Ronnie?"

The others get out of the car to see more clearly. Betty is the first to speak because none of them can really believe it.

"Santa?"

The big red suited guy turns to look at us from looking at the sleigh in the tree.

"Ho! Ho! Ho! Hello!"

Jughead says what I assume most of us are thinking.

"Really? You're going to play into the stereotype?"

"Forsyth Pendleton Jones the Third, you of all people should know that stereotypes exist because they're true."

"What the hell?"

"Language Mr Jones."

"How do you know my name?"

The jolly old man laughs just like all those fake ones on TV.

"How do you think?"

"That's not possible."

"I would think you would be open to new possibilities Miss Lodge."

 _What does that mean? And how does he know my name?_

Betty is the only one of us not to seem put off by the strange old man.

"What are you doing here Santa?"

"Thanks for asking Miss Cooper. I was on a practice run for next week and went a little low with my route. I guess this is why I do practice runs."

Kevin can't seem to wrap his head around this.

"I'm sorry, are you actually expecting us to believe that you flew in that thing?"

"Well I would offer to prove it but I would need to get it out of the tree first. Do you think a couple of you young men could get it down for me?"

Archie looks at the sleigh in the tree for a moment.

"I think it's a little too big for the three of us."

Betty offers the next most obvious solution.

"We could give you a ride to the next town where you can find some people to help you."

 _Sorry, what?_

"I don't think it's such a good idea to be picking up hitchhikers on the side of the road B."

"He's not a hitchhiker, he's Santa. We can't leave him by the side of the road."

Jughead interjects at this point.

"He's not actually Santa, Bets."

"Then how did he know your name?"

"That's not exactly comforting to me Betty."

Betty turns to me, a pleading look on her face and I have to look away like I've been doing.

"All right, fine, we'll help... Santa."

"Thanks Ronnie."

 _Like I could say no._

Then I drop myself back down into the car.

 _There's something weird about this guy._

I watch the guy from my seat as B and the rest of my friends quiz him endlessly.

 _I mean, aside from the weird Santa fetish and the fact that he seems to know everything about us. We've been quizzing him for the past hour on our ride and he hasn't gotten one question wrong. I even asked a few myself and he got so many details right it would be impossible to fake it. Most of my friends seem convinced that he's the real deal, although Jughead and I have different reasons for being skeptical._

 _The main problem for me is the way he keeps looking at me. Like he knows something's bugging me and it's true. I do have something on my mind..._

I glance over at the clearly excited Betty.

 _Or more accurately some one._

My focus turns back to him.

 _But he can't know, there's no way he could know about that. Then again, most of this guy doesn't make any sense. How could he know?_

The car pulls up to the town repair shop we found on Maps and stops.

"Looks like we're here."

Most of the rest of the car moans in disappointment.

"You should be able to find someone to help you here."

"Thank you Miss Lodge. I do appreciate your generosity at this time of year. You definitely fall into the nice category this year."

I can't help but smile at the ridiculous way he's keeping up the pretence.

"Well, you're welcome."

"Would you mind coming in and speaking to the owner with me? For some reason this look makes it hard to be taken seriously."

Jughead laughs.

"I can't imagine why."

The guy gets out and turns to me again.

"Miss Lodge?"

"I suppose I wouldn't want to disappoint Santa."

I get out of the car with him, leaving my friends inside. We start heading for the entrance.

"You know, you don't have to hide you know."

 _Hide? Hide what?_

"Sorry? What exactly am I hiding?"

"The real present you want for Christmas."

 _This should be interesting._

"And what's that?"

"Answers."

"Answers to what?"

"To the questions you really want to ask. You don't have to be afraid of what happened that night. I know it was a confusing time for you but sometimes not knowing the answers is worse than the answers. You don't have to be afraid to ask."

"Okay then, if you're really Santa and you know the answer then why don't you tell me the answer."

"Because the person you should be asking is back in the car. She is just as interested in the answer as you are."

I stop and so does he as we face each other at the door.

 _Why won't he just say it?_

"Or you could tell me. You can think of it as my gift for the year. I'll skip everything else."

He smiles at me.

"My gift to you, is the confidence to know that you do have it in you to ask the question."

After a few moments of silence his smile gets even bigger.

"Merry Christmas Veronica Lodge."


	2. Author's Note

If you liked this piece, be sure to check out some of the other stories.

Here's a list of how the story works, continuity wise:

Riverdale: Pandora's Box

Riverdale: Double Take

 **Riverdale: Merry Christmas Veronica Lodge**

Riverdale: Signs

Riverdale: Cocktails

Riverdale: The Heart of the Matter

Riverdale: Drinking Game

Riverdale: Blurred Lines

Riverdale: The Perfect Break Up

Riverdale: Make You Feel Your Love

Feel free to check out the other parts of the story.


End file.
